Wednesday, March 31, 2004

A military hot line continues to ring in reports of sexual assaults at Sheppard AFB, with 45 women saying they've been victimized — a number approaching the mark for similar incidents at the Air Force Academy.

"(But) you have a huge amount of publicity, and there is the issue of unlawful command influence," said Taylor, referring to public comments made in December by II Marine Expeditionary Force commander Lt. Gen. Henry P. Osman to gatherings of officers at the base theater and officers' club. As a result, the Piedmont Judicial Court ordered Osman to retract and further clarify his views on the military justice system by publishing a command statement on every unit bulletin board and base newspaper at Camp Lejeune, New River Air Station, Cherry Point Air Station and Beaufort Air Station, S.C.. That was completed in January

Tuesday was the first day of his Article 32 court martial hearing at Fort Campbell for Sgt. 1st Class James H. Williams, a member of Company A, 326th Engineer Battalion, who is charged with armed robbery.

Williams' local civilian defense attorney Michael Love said his client is being used as a "political pawn" because the 2001 Toyota Land Cruiser was taken within the military's prescribed Rules of Engagement but the issue has become who owned the vehicle -- an important tribal leader in Mosul.

"We don't understand the legitimacy of the charges at this point," Love said. "He's a 17-year veteran of two wars and there's not a blemish on his record. He's a dedicated career soldier with two children, a wife and a mortgage. I think anyone would be distraught."

Major Mori told reporters in Australia earlier this month that the tribunal process offends his understanding of justice. His client was captured more than two years ago in Afghanistan, allegedly fighting with the Taleban. He has been held without charge ever since at the U.S. Navy's Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba, and is expected to be among the first group of detainees to be tried by a military tribunal. "I've been outspoken in the media and that's one avenue, I think, to raise awareness about the unfair commission process," says Mr. Mori, who is convinced his client will not get a fair hearing.

At issue is whether American citizens arrested on a non-U.S. combat zone can be held incommunicado without charges. The case will test the government's power to interrogate American captives without allowing access to a lawyer or the courts, because they may pose a future threat, or know about pending terrorist attacks. And it could define when and if federal courts can intervene.

Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of Central Command, wrote in a memorandum attached to the investigation report that gun camera tapes which recorded the attacks on the Marines by the Air Force A-10 planes were not preserved for investigators, even though it was clear a probe would be called for. The lack of video evidence "did hamper investigative efforts," he wrote.

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

When Guantánamo chaplain Captain James Yee was arrested allegedly with secret documents about the prison, he was threatened with execution and branded a traitor. So why after 200 days in jail was he only charged with adultery and quietly released? Oliver Burkeman on a strange and troubling tale from the new American era of homeland security

The questioning of Saddam - initially handled by the CIA - is currently a joint CIA-FBI operation, an indication that the aim is changing from "finding intelligence" to "gathering evidence" for any eventual trials.

(JAG Hunter note: In case you missed it, former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is officially declared a U.S. POW. Not an "enemy combatant." Hussein comes under the jurisdiction of the UCMJ with his POW status. The JAG Hunter opines Hussein will be tried by a U.S. court-martial in Iraq. You heard it here first)

Yee's lawyer, Eugene Fidell of Washington, D.C., said the military's decision to drop charges after business hours March 19 and hold the Article 15 hearing the following Monday harmed Yee's ability to defend himself. Fidell said the Army supplied him with a loose-leaf binder containing its alleged evidence against Yee 11 minutes before the hearing began.

"Until the Pentagon gets a system that allows aircraft to interrogate a target and determine if it is friend or foe before firing, these incidents will happen again and again," said Hayles, who has worked to persuade military officials to develop combat identification systems since 1991.

Chaffin faces a maximum punishment up to 152 years in prison. Chaffin was accused of conspiring with Pvt. Antoine D. Boykins of Baltimore, Md., to cut the suspension lines and of attempting to frame Cpl. Julian C. Ramirez of Los Angeles, whose charges were dismissed last April.

Monday, March 29, 2004

The incident happened March 23, 2003, on the fourth day of the war, near the city of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq amid a chaotic battle between Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Iraqi forces in which a total of 18 Marines were killed.
U.S. Central Command, which investigated the matter, said it planned to publicly release its final report after the last of the Marine families involved had been briefed on it today. The investigation's findings were first reported Sunday by the Los Angeles Times and the Baltimore Sun.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Marine Corps general will consider possible disciplinary action against a ground-based Marine air
controller faulted in the most deadly U.S. "friendly fire" incident in the Iraq war, officials say.

(CNN) -- A report released Monday by U.S. Central Command recommends disciplinary action against a U.S. Marine Corps captain who called in airstrikes on his fellow Marines in the deadliest "friendly fire" incident of the Iraq war.

[Yee's attorney, Eugene] Fidell said the military's decision to drop most of the charges after business hours on Friday, March 19, and hold the Article 15 proceeding the following Monday hurt Yee's defense preparation and minimized media scrutiny.

"The Army's hope to avoid further bad press is entirely understandable, but it is not a valid basis for depriving a commissioned officer of the right to mount a defense," Fidell wrote. "This smacks of gamemanship and bias."

The restrictions on military personnel's ability to travel, the high cost of legal representation, and the financial hardships created by child support and spousal support obligations make it difficult for returning service personnel to fight for their parental rights in another state. Many struggle to even see their children, much less remain a meaningful part of their lives.

Unlike the U.S. justice system, criminal suspects in Japan are interrogated without the presence of lawyers. The U.S. wanted Japan to guarantee the protection of the suspects' rights. Human rights groups have raised concerns about the Japanese justice system.

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq -- The American military is holding some 8,000 Iraqi security detainees without trial or formal charges, most of them in a prison where at least six US guards have been criminally charged with abusing inmates.

According to reports, the ladder sliced a 9-inch hole in the nose cone of a Trident missile as the missile was being lifted out of its launch tube. The lifting was stopped just before the ladder struck one of the missile's warheads, according to a report by military justice activist Walter Fitzpatrick and confirmed by other sources who asked to remain anonymous.

Editorial - St. Peterburg Times
By ROBYN E. BLUMNER, Times Perspective Columnist

"The government's argument in this case has no logical stopping point," the military attorneys' brief continues. "If there is no right to civilian review, the government is free to conduct sham trials and condemn to death those who do nothing more than pray to Allah."

"Sham trials" are undoubtedly the point.

(JAG Hunter note: Ahem...American soldiers and sailors tried by courts-martial have never had a "...right to civilian review." The Supreme Court has routinely opined their incompetence to rule on matters of military law. Called the doctrine of deference, the supremes punt every time to the war-making, that is - the political branches of U.S. government - Legislative and Executive. The Supreme Court has consistently rejected prayers from American servicemen "on the rationale that 'due deference' should be given to commanders' discretionary judgments becaues the judiciary was ill-suited to second guess those decisions."

Oversight of the military's predatory and punitive justice sysrtem has been the purview of the President and Congress for over two hundred years.

Navy Lt. Alan M. Vaughn plead guilty to a single charge of smuggling Ecstasy across the border from Canada at Blaine, WA according to a report in the Navy Times (29 March 2004). Vaughn's admission was entered on 12 March in federal court, Seattle.

The former PAO for VP-1 faces 4 to 5 years in federal prison while being allowed to resign from the Navy.

Saturday, March 27, 2004

Lisa Schmidt believes the Air Force began the prosecution of her husband to mollify Canada. "We were trying to get Canada to be our allies at the time," she said. Since then, she said, the prosecution may be trying to distract from "a command and control failure. The generals don't want to take responsibility." Why didn't people know about the live-fire exercise? she asks.

Mejia, 28, of Miami Beach, returned March 17 to Fort Stewart to face possible prosecution. He left Iraq in October on two weeks leave and did not return to his unit, the 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military's criminal investigation into potential abuse of Iraqi detainees by U.S. soldiers at Abu Gharib prison in Iraq now includes reports from soldiers that military police took photographs showing soldiers hitting detainees, CNN has learned.

U.S. Army Corporal Gary L. Shafto was found dead in his Fort Leavenworth cell on 14 March 2002. Cpl. Shafto died under intense observation of military police guards assigned to his care at the United States Disciplinary Barracks or USDB.

How did Cpl. Gary Shafto die?

Where's the probe in to Shafto's unattended death while in custody of U.S. military police?

FORT HOOD, Texas - A military hearing into an alleged rape at Fort Hood concluded Thursday with the defense calling several witnesses to testify about their relationship with the 22-year-old female soldier who has accused a fellow soldier of attacking her in her barracks.

Thursday, March 25, 2004

"The system is not set up to provide even the appearance of a fair trial," said Major Michael Mori, who was appointed by the Pentagon to defend the Australian detainee David Hicks.

[Maj. Mori goes on] "When you use an unfair system, all you do is risk convicting the innocent and providing somebody who is truly guilty with a valid complaint to attack his conviction. It doesn't help anyone."

Tuesday's event followed the release of 168 prisoners on Sunday without any publicity, and the disclosure that six American soldiers face charges of abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib, used by Saddam to detain political foes along with common criminals.

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

A military legal source, who asked not to be named, said the fact that a colonel took on a much more senior officer is "really remarkable."
"It is unusual for a three-star to be accused of unlawful command influence," the source said.

Schumer, D-N.Y., announced that he will support a bill that would increase the size of the Army by 30,000 troops. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., introduced that bill earlier this month, and five other senators - including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. - immediately signed onto it.

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Burkhart, who worked in public affairs coordinating members of the media embedded with the troops, testified she ran the idea of going to the party past her boss because the celebration was going to involve taking every Marine away from the office.

Friendly fire Supporters of Maj. Harry Schmidt, whom the Air Force is court-martialing for dropping a bomb on friendly Canadian troops in Afghanistan, ask this question: Why hasn't the military filed such serious charges against other pilots in a series of "friendly fire" deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Because base schools fall under the military's jurisdiction, campus-related problems are handled by regular military police officers. She said that because those officers cover the entire base, they may not be familiar with school procedures, the school staff or the students, she said.

Monday, March 22, 2004

Kreutzer's military attorneys were inexperienced, had little time to prepare, were denied money to hire a mental health expert and were forced to try the case in two days. Prosecutors refused to let Kreutzer plead guilty to avoid a death sentence, though they knew his mental state.

On March 11, a three-judge panel of U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals in Virginia ordered a new sentencing hearing. The judges said Kreutzer's legal representation had been ineffective and that the trial judge had erred by refusing a defense request to hire a mitigation specialist to argue against a death sentence.

More troubling -- and symptomatic -- is the Navy's self-destructive stonewalling of this incident. In this case, the "neither confirm nor deny" policy did an injustice both to the public's right to know and to the Navy itself. By refusing to provide any information on this incident, the Navy undermines its own credibility and professionalism, and also provides fuel for those who could use it to attack the Navy politically and in the public's awareness.

Sunday, March 21, 2004

The assaults allegedly occurred in November and December, said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of coalition operations. Fewer than 20 Arab prisoners were abused, the general said, adding that the investigation continues.

Saturday's charges were the first public disclosure of results from parallel criminal and internal prisoner-abuse investigations that began Jan. 14 by order of Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commanding general of ground troops in Iraq.

1st Lt. Tara Burkhart, 31, allegedly authorized the men under her command to drink alcohol and ordered them to stash their weapons in the bedroom of a Kuwaiti apartment while they all went to a pool party the night of May 15.

Pvt. Abdi B. Mohamed, of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, also was found guilty of possessing a switchblade, fleeing custody of a commissioned officer, disrespecting a commissioned officer and three counts of failure to show up to formation. Mohamed was found innocent of an identical specification of attempted murder under a different Uniform Code of Military Justice article, an assault charge and attempting to escape custody.

The charges are expected to include indecent acts, assault, cruelty, maltreatment, conspiracy, and dereliction of duty.

Multiple sources said the allegations involve soldiers who took photographs of Iraqi prisoners, including pictures that show the prisoners partially clothed or physical contact between soldiers and detainees.

It's worth reminding readers of the paper written by Col. Michael Gilbert some years back that
made plain the workings of military law are "totally removed from society's system of judicial protection."

It's been that way for America's soldiers and sailors for more than two centuries...why make the system any more protective or responsive to the needs of "enemy combatants?"

In the last year, 92 allegations of sexual misconduct were investigated by Army CID personnel in the Central Command area. The complaints were not all made by Soldiers, officials said. And not all of those assaulted were women. Also, the perpetrators were not all Soldiers, officials added. Allegations have been made against local nationals and members of other services and coalition forces.

Thursday, March 18, 2004

Definitions:

JAGMIRE

jag · mire (jág-mīre) n. U.S Military Law. Slang 1. Present and past practice of military justice. 2. The collected body of unethical, corrupt, corrupted, or criminally complicit judge advocate generals. 3. A difficult or precarious military justice situation; predicament. 4. A military justice bog. – v. mired, miring. 1. To sink or stick in or as if in a jagmire. 2. To intentionally soil or destroy the military career of another or advance one’s own career through the unethical or criminal practice of military law.

jag priest · hood (jág prēst-hüd) n U.S Military Law. Slang. 1. Members of the legal arm of the U.S. military. 2. Persons having authority to perform the sacred rites of the U.S. military's punitive justice system; usually: below the rank of admiral or general and above a seaman or private.

The five JAGs -- as members of the Judge Advocate General's Corps, the military's legal arm, are known -- have attacked the tribunals as inherently unfair, contrary to international law and susceptible to political influence. In a brief they submitted to the Supreme Court, Cmdr. Swift wrote a section comparing the president with King George III and likening the treatment of tribunal defendants to the injustices that helped spark the American Revolution.

He was wounded. But he says it was nothing compared to what another soldier did to him. A fellow soldier staying at his apartment stole his identity and emptied his entire bank account of all his combat pay, $13,000.

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

Capt. James Yee and prosecutors are near an agreement under which the Army would drop its most serious criminal charges against the Muslim chaplain and he would agree to undergo up to 30 days of counterintelligence interrogations and a polygraph test.

Monday, March 15, 2004

Army Pvt. Kidnapped and Konvicted at Kangaroo Kourt-martial: The case of Army Pvt. Corey J. Cox

A country is measured by the way it treats its soldiersby Walter Francis Fitzpatrick, III
March 15, 2004

SILVERDALE, WA. – Corey Cox’s Jan. 2001 arrest by Norman, Oklahoma police was unremarkable in our age of reality TV. Cox was with a friend when local civilian cops raided the apartment where he was staying during a civilian police undercover sting operation. Ecstasy and other drug paraphernalia were seized in the living room while Corey slept in a bedroom.

Cox was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and rounded up with everyone else. But following the civilian arrest Corey was never connected with use or distribution of the drugs, charges leveled against him. All Norman, OK. prosecutors discovered was that Corey was a disc jockey who “spun vinyl” at “raves,” local late night party gatherings where Ecstasy was freely distributed and used.

Army commanders took over jurisdiction of the Cox prosecution in August 2001 after civilian law enforcement officials failed to make any part of their case stick after seven months investigative effort.

Although Corey Cox was arrested in the civilian community, in civilian clothes, by civilian cops, Corey just so happened to be a soldier on active duty assigned to the Army’s nearby field artillery center, Ft. Sill.

Pvt. Cox and two other soldiers were publicly re-arrested and handcuffed by military authorities on 9 August 2001 in front of nearly 700 troops. Lt. Col. Anthony Daskevich ordered the humiliating arrest with the concurrence and approval of Ft. Sill’s commanding general, Toney Strickland.

Captain Marcus Jones choreographed the public arrest working with military prosecutors, MPs, and special agents from the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division at Ft. Sill.

According to Jones “the idea behind [the public arrest and] questioning…was the fear that [Cox and other troops] were about to be implicated by one of their peers would push them into providing CID information.” (Emphasis my own)

Cpt. Jones announced to the mass assembly, while they all watched Cox being handcuffed, that Cox was guilty, was going to be prosecuted at general court-martial (GCM), and that government prosecutors would “win” a conviction. Jones further threatened the 700 soldiers hectoring, “I told you all what would happen [to you] when you get involved with drugs in my [unit].”

Cpt. Jones was speaking to potential jury members at the time. Standing off to the side was Cpt. Ruth Vetter, one of the government prosecutors.

Cox and the two other soldiers were hauled off to CID offices. Cox was held late into the night, and then released to walk back to his barracks miles away. CID agents turned up nothing during questioning. No charges were filed.

A military police investigator named Farmer described CID’s public arrest of Corey as a “kidnapping” and unlawful imprisonment. However, Farmer refused to advance a criminal complaint as required by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

CO Jones brought charges against Pvt. Cox anyway, 11 days later on 20 Aug 01. This despite a total lack of evidence. Jones and Army prosecutors used Norman police reports and allied papers as subterfuge.

The suggestion or appearance that Cox was involved in the local drug trade was all Army commanders needed to use Cox as an example for other troops.

There was no investigation by federal agents - just the kidnapping and unlawful detention.

Cox’s assigned military attorney, Cpt. Ricardo “Rick” Diaz abandoned Cox thirty minutes before the trial began. Diaz gave no on record explanation to the military judge.

Corey plead “not guilty.”

There was no jury.

When called to the stand, Norman police Detective Jose Chavez failed to identify Pvt. Cox in open court. Det. Chavez was the only police officer to testify against Cox and was in charge of the Jan. 2001 apartment raid the night Cox was first taken into custody.

When asked, Chavez pointed to Cox and identified him as “the gentleman--actually, the gentleman in civilian attire.”

Pvt. Cox was in uniform.

No physical evidence was introduced.

Cpt. Jones, Cox's CO and accuser, did not testify.

All of Corey’s constitutional and military justice procedural protections designed to safeguard innocents by identifying fatally flawed prosecutions and stop bogus cases from advancing to GCM were materially obstructed.

During trial, Col. (military judge) Gary Casida, stepped out of his neutral, unbiased role as independent trier of fact to guide and assist inexperienced and incompetent Army prosecutors.

While under investigation by Norman police, CID agents pressed Pvt. Cox to assist them in their law enforcement pursuits against other soldiers suspected participating in the drug trade around Ft. Sill. Cox was strong-armed into becoming CID confidential informant, a “CI.”

Pvt. Cox assisted undercover federal agents in a controlled drug transaction and arrest of Pvt. Adam Whitelaw. The drug sting was under CID authority and supervision. Cox worked under narcotics investigator William C. Johnson. Cox was instrumental in effecting arrests in a total of three controlled drug buys (of all those attempted) from January through March 2001. Cox met with CID agent Johnson 2-3 times each week and was on the phone with Johnson repeatedly.

Army prosecutors called Pvt. Whitelaw to testify against Pvt. Cox during Cox’s trial.

CID agent Johnson testified as a defense witness.

Judge Casida found Cox guilty and sentenced him to six years in a military prison. Army prosecutors asked for ten years behind bars.

Congressman Norm Dicks, Adam Smith, Duncan Hunter, and John Shadegg; and Senators Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, John McCain, and Jon Kyl are aware of this outrage and of the abuse and torment visited upon Corey and his family. These lawmakers sit on their hands, doing nothing.

Pvt. Cox was released and is left on his own in the fight to clear his name.

Subase Bangor is located on the Puget Sound’s Hood Canal, near Silverdale, WA.

President Bush was notified immediately of the “BROKEN ARROW,” a military code word alerting military governors of a nuclear weapons accident. SWFPAC was shut down instantly, prohibited from continued weapons handling evolutions. SWFPAC’s de-certification seriously limited essential stateside military operations.

The submarine’s missile was hoisted up into an access ladder left installed in tube #16 slicing a 9-inch hole in the nosecone. The lift was stopped inches from one of the missiles multiple warheads, a distance measured between thumb and forefinger.

Rear Admiral Charles Young ordered Captain Lyles' relief for cause . Young is responsible for the care and feeding of all fleet ballistic missile submarine nuclear weapons.

Enlisted men on the handling team face court-martial or less severe disciplinary action. Petty officers Robert Steel was topside supervisor, Mark Hammock - topside team leader, and Christopher Hamilton a topside team member.

A lift fitting must be attached to a missile before it’s hoisted up and out of the submarine silo. The tube hatch is opened, an access ladder affixed inside the silo above the nosecone. A sailor climbs down the ladder, attaches the lift fitting to the ICBM, then after connecting the hoist to the lift fitting, climbs back up on deck.

The access ladder must be removed from above the nosecone before the missile is lifted skyward.

On Nov. 7 2003, it wasn’t.

The handling crew took a break after making the bird in tube #16 ready for lift, leaving the access ladder in place. The sailors returned and began the hoist. The missile was lifted into the ladder slicing a large hole in the nosecone. The lift was stopped a instant before warhead impact.

The accident occurred late morning after one missile had been successfully offloaded, and another made ready for extraction.

Lehman was ordered to relieve the fired Capt. Lyles on the spot - Dec. 19.

SWFPAC passed its second NWAI on Jan. 9, 2004 ending a 9-week shut down of the nuclear weapons handling facility.

Navy seniors have issued a gag order to all military and civilian personnel familiar with the accident that threatens court-martial or other federal punitive action if violated.

Prevailing winds that day blew at 5 to 10 mph over courthouses in Kitsap, Mason, and Thurston counties, and over the state house and government campus in Olympia. Also downwind the Belfair, WA. home of Congressman Norm Dicks.

Here's a classic JAG railroad story. I am a former Navy nuclear submarine lieutenant and I was a character witness for a guy (EM2 White Hat) accused of possessing and selling drugs. I don't see how anyone with a brain can convict this guy based on the word of a guy making a plea bargain. Submarine Group 2 public affairs released a made up story about how Naval Criminal Investigative Service busted a Navy-wide drug ring. NCIS caught one guy (MM1 Watertight Door) and they made him a deal that if he named some names they would go easier on him. Submarine Group TWO had to say something to explain why NCIS let Door, a nuclear mechanic, stay on his submarine for two years. I have a feeling there are many other innocent men in jail because of NCIS and JAG corruption. Here is the story:

For two years the Navy permitted a sailor to operate a nuclear reactor on board a submarine knowing full well that this individual was both using and trafficking illegal drugs, endangering the safety of the ship, the crew and the surrounding civilian population. Your state has a Naval base with nuclear powered ships, and that is why I felt you might find the information I have to offer pertinent.
Two years ago Machinist Mate First Class W.T. Door was arrested by Base Police when he attempted to scale a security fence to get back on base. A subsequent search of his person found several different illegal drugs. A follow-on urinalysis also found several types of illicit drugs in his system. Rather than face jail time and a dishonorable discharge (due to the Navy’s Zero Tolerance Program for substance abuse), the NCIS offered him a deal if he helped them to catch a drug dealer that W.T. Door claimed he knew, and that NCIS had been attempting to catch for some time.

After an extensive and fruitless investigation which revealed nothing more than that W.T. Door had no information to offer after all, he was offered one final deal: if he cooperated with NCIS in netting as many sailors as possible using drugs, he would have all the charges against him dropped and he would be administratively, rather than dishonorably, separated from the Navy. He took the deal and was returned to his command, the USS PITTSBURG, where he continued to use and sell drugs for two years. During that time the USS PITTSBURG was sent overseas to conduct wartime operations, and made numerous port calls in foreign cities.

I would like to re-emphasize that Petty Officer W.T. Door operates a nuclear reactor, and during this two-year period he was frequently under the influence of drugs while operating. This was with the NCIS’s explicit permission in order to facilitate their goal of capturing as many sailors as possible using drugs, showing wanton disregard for the safety risks involved. This fact is extensively documented through the NCIS’s own wiretap, photograph and video evidence from the investigation.

This information came to me from a colleague on board my own ship. I feel it is my duty and responsibility to expose this gross violation of the public trust.

The Air Force has opened a second investigation into a deadly "friendly fire" bombing in June in Djibouti after an initial probe found that three navigators on a B-52 bomber allowed its cross hairs to mistakenly fix on U.S. Marines below.
"In the final analysis, the mishap was caused by the unacceptable technique of rolling cross hairs onto a friendly position and subsequent failure of the [navigation crew] to accomplish the step of ensuring the cross hairs were on the correct target," said a confidential Air Force report, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times.
"I determined that responsibility for this accident lies squarely and solely with the [bomb-targeting crew]," said the report on the June 22 strike, which killed a U.S. Marine and wounded nine.
The punishment for the three B-52 bomb radar navigators is up to Lt. Gen. Bruce Carlson, who, his spokeswoman said, has ordered a follow-up investigation. The investigative report prepared by Brig. Gen. Gilmary M. Hostage III was forwarded to Gen. Carlson, commander of the 8th Air Force at Barksdale Air Base in Louisiana, for "disciplinary action."
The case is being closely observed by allies of a pilot involved in another "friendly fire" case in the war on terrorism that is being overseen by Gen. Carlson as the "convening authority."
The Air Force has moved to court-martial Air National Guard Maj. Harry Schmidt on charges of dereliction of duty.
"We are concerned about the differing treatment by the 8th Air Force between the Schmidt case and the B-52 training accident," said Charles Gittins, Maj. Schmidt's attorney. "The B-52 case was a training mission -- no combat stress. Maj. Schmidt's was a combat mission in a combat area in wartime."
The Air Force quickly moved to lodge criminal charges after Maj. Schmidt dropped a bomb in Afghanistan during the war that mistakenly hit a Canadian live-fire exercise. The strike killed four Canadians and injured eight on a range near Kandahar on April 18, 2002.
Mr. Gittins said his research shows that there have been 17 similar fratricides in the war on terrorism, but his client is the only one to face serious criminal charges.
"Why is a guy who made a mistake in combat being prosecuted while the guys who were on a training mission in the comfort of their air-conditioned B-52 not being prosecuted?" Mr. Gittins said.
"The answer is, it's a political issue and we're kowtowing to the Canadians. Because the president screwed up and didn't apologize fast enough, so they're punishing Harry," the lawyer said.
The F-16 pilot could have avoided a criminal trial by pleading guilty at an administrative hearing and quitting the Air Force short of retirement benefits, but he refused.
Maj. Schmidt asserts that he saw flashes of fire at the training site and that he was never pre-briefed on the activity, showing the bombing was an accident, not criminal negligence.
The lawyer pointed out other differences in the cases that would suggest a more lenient treatment for his client.
Maj. Schmidt "didn't have the luxury of a five-man crew; an instructor standing over his shoulder or the knowledge that he could just do it again if things didn't look right."
"The difference in the treatment and the circumstances fairly slaps you in the face when you look closely at the facts," he said.
The mistaken B-52 bombing in Djibouti, where the Pentagon has set up a counterterrorism task force, killed Marine Capt. Seth Michaud, a helicopter pilot and Naval Academy graduate.
On June 22, the Marines were training in close-air support operations with the B-52 overhead. The Marines pointed a radar beacon at the target; the B-52 homed in on the illumination and was to drop nine bombs.
One of the crew members -- the report did not say who, because apparently no crew members talked to the investigator -- moved the cross hairs from the Godoria Range targets to the Marines' position. This was done to judge the distance between the two.
That is when the mistake occurred. None of the three navigators moved the cross hairs back across the scope to the range. The plane then released nine bombs, killing Capt. Michaud and injuring nine.
Gen. Hostage put most blame on two of the three navigators.
"No matter who moved the cross hairs, the other one of them should have seen it and interceded," the general wrote.

The purpose of this e-mail is to inform and update those concerned that a gave injustice is threatening the liberties and livelihood of an American Fighter Pilot, Maj. Harry Schmidt and his family.

The issue at hand also has staggering implications for the national security of the United States of America and her allies.

Another hearing is scheduled, Monday, March 1, 2004, at Barksdale A.F.B.

At a hearing, January 26, 2004, eight motions were presented to Judge Col. Mary Boone. Later she denied all eight motions - most without explanation or legal substantiation.

One of the denied motions is a most disturbing issue - Harry's lead defense counsel, Mr. Charles W. Gittins (a former Marine Corps aviator who previously held a Top Secret/SCI security clearance), has been denied a security clearance by the Air Force.

Another alarming issue is the care the government has taken to close the hearing to EVERYONE-regardless of their security clearance. There are pilots in the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Army, with top clearance that want to sit in the courtroom.

BOTH THESE ISSUES are directly contrary to the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a SPEEDY and PUBLIC TRIAL, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusations; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the effective assistance of counsel for his defense.

Maj. Schmidt has lost his effective assistance of counsel for his defense in another way. His military counsel, Maj. James Key, is committed in March with a Guantanamo spy case hearing and cannot participate in preparing for Maj. Schmidt's April trial.

Maj. Schmidt wrote these and other concerns to the United States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals Court. He has not received an answer to his appeal; therefore must go to the hearing with these issues unresolved.

We, Maj. Schmidts parents, are concerned over the fact that the Air Force has impeded Harry's ability to discuss his case with his attorney by failing to process Mr. Gittins for a security clearance.

We do not understand how our son is being prosecuted where there have been at least 17 accidents, similar in nature, including training accidents involving B-52s from the 8th Air Force.

We express concerns about the fairness of the proceeding because the Trial Counsel (prosecutor) is representing the Military Judge in our appeal of her ruling. How can the military judge be represented by a prosecutor?

Maj. Schmidt has never had a public hearing, they have all been in a warehouse, (a storage building at Barksdale A.F.B.) with spectators and the news media watching in different rooms on closed-circuit television.